Word of the Week

Ladybugladybird

Fly away home

Definition: A tiny bug that is red with black spots.

Used in a sentence:  Why is it that people consider a ladybugladybird to be cuter than any other insect?

I don't think that word means what you think it means

I had to laugh the other day when we were at the grocery store and I saw this:

These watermelons were slightly larger than canteloupes.  I don't know that I've ever seen a watermelon that small in Texas... never mind calling them giant!  

Isn't it funny the difference in perception based on what you're used to?  Here, these truly are giant watermelons (and shockingly uniform in size and shape!).  I've never seen any bigger.  In the US, I don't know that I've ever seen one this small.  

Makes me wonder what causes this difference... Anyone know?

Maybe climate? 

Cheerful Sunday

I'm pretty sure that my beloved G'ma is the most cheerful woman on the planet today.
She completed her great-grandson trifecta in under 4 months.

Congratulations to Jen and Curtis on the birth of baby George!
Linus is very excited and can't wait to meet his newest cousin!

Baby Socks

It's not surprise, given Ross' love of socks that Linus is amassing quite a collection.  Ross is in charge of baby sock procurement and has done an excellent job.  There are just so many cute options out there for baby socks.  I mentioned to a friend the other day that socks may be the only baby item category where boy stuff is cuter than girl stuff.

Patriotic Socks for the Jubilee

Socks that look like sneakers

Linus has socks that go with just about every outfit he has and we quite enjoy putting together his daily "looks".  I figure socks aren't a bad indulgence to have since they are rarely more than a couple of pounds for a pack and he doesn't outgrow them too quickly.  In fact, some of the cutest socks we have for him are from Primark (a bargain clothing store here in the UK).  This little bin, usually in the dresser drawer, hold his sock collection:

my hand included for scale

It may not look like much, but when socks are that tiny, a little bin holds a LOT of socks!  In general, I find that the UK has much cuter socks than the US.  Now that might sound weird, but it's definitely true of men's socks.  Trying to find brightly coloured men's socks in the US is nearly impossible.  You can find some if you order on the internet, but they aren't found in the average department store like they are here.  Ross would always be sad when we visited Target and saw the fun women's socks, but not a bright color or pattern could be found for the men.  I'm not sure if it's true of baby socks too, since I haven't looked at baby socks in the US that extensively.  What I can tell you, is that we've procured the cutest baby socks ever.  Behold:

Beefeaters, Royal Guardsmen, and Bobby Socks

Do you have any baby socks that could rival these?  Seriously, if so tell me so we can get them too :)

What's your accessory weakness?

Rabbit on.

Spurred by reader Michelle's comment on my last post, I decided to devote a couple of posts to children's songs in the US and UK.

I mentioned that we've been going to Rhythm Time where we sing a variety of songs with the babies.  We shake maracas and tambourines.  We bounce and dance and act silly.  It's pretty fun.  Linus is liking it more and more each week.  Sometimes he ends up eating the whole time instead of participating, but I figure the exposure to music is good for him regardless.  He's still not a big fan of when the drums get banged too loudly.  I'm not a big fan of loud noises, so perhaps he gets that from me.  We also sing songs and do movements at Baby Yoga, which I think Linus prefers for it's more mellow vibe.

Linus shaking his maraca.

One song that we sing at yoga is new to me.  It's called "Run Rabbit Run", and it goes:

Run, rabbit.  Run, rabbit.

Run, run, run.

Don't let the Farmer get his

Gun, gun, gun.

He'll get by without his rabbit pie.

So, Run, rabbit.  Run, rabbit.

Run, run, run.

We generally sing it while we're moving the babies' legs in a running motion, which is supposed to be good for digestion and releasing gas.  The yoga teacher told us a story the other day about how she'd recently done a Baby Yoga workshop at a conference and got in trouble for using this song because the organizers felt it was insensitive to the large number of vegetarians present.  I pointed out that it could actually be construed as pro-vegetarian as it encourages the rabbit to elude the Farmer!  What could be more veg-friendly!? :)  In reality this song is about World War 2 and is meant to poke fun at the Germans.  How very political!

On a note unrelated to singing, do you know what it means if someone says "Oh, she does rabbit on"?  It could easily be applied to me and my penchant for verbosity.  It means "she sure talks incessantly".  Word is that it's cockney rhyming slang-  "Rabbit and Pork" -> pork rhymes with talk (if you use a cockney accent, though I think it's a stretch).  So to "rabbit" means to "talk".  I prefer to think about it as how rabbits are known for going at it like, well, rabbits and that somehow relates to the speed of the chatter... or something...

Good conclusion, Meg.  "Or something"...  Yep, that's how I roll.